Snatched
by HarmoniousPie
Summary: They've rescued Jackson and gotten Gibbs' rule 40 situation under control. But now Tim has his own…and he's gone off grid. Someone has taken Abby and Sarah and is forcing Tim to choose between them. Can he save both girls? Slight Finale Spoilers! McAbby
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Snatched**

**Alternate Crack!title: Rule 40: The McGee Edition**

**Summary: They've rescued Jackson and gotten Gibbs' rule 40 situation under control. But now Tim has his own…and he's gone off grid. Someone has taken Abby and Sarah and is forcing Tim to choose between them. Can he save both girls? What will it cost him?**

**Written for: The NFA Community's Anticipating Season 8 Challenge.**

**Notes: S7 Spoilers, Finale Spoilers, Major hints of McAbby, slight Tiva undertones at points.**

On the way back to NCIS headquarters from Stillwater, PA, Timothy McGee could breathe much easier than he had been able to for a 50-plus hour period. It was hard to believe that just over two days before he, Abby, Ziva, Gibbs, Vance, Ducky, and Jimmy had been celebrating Ziva's new status as an American citizen. At eleven, they had all met at Ziva's favorite restaurant following the ceremony, well Gibbs had met them there since he hadn't shown up at the ceremony. Neither had Tony and since no one had heard from him they were all worried. It was at noon that the call came into Gibbs' cell phone: Paloma Reynosa had Jackson Gibbs captured in his general store and would kill him unless Gibbs came. There was no chance of dissuading either him or Ziva from going along with Gibbs. They had raced to headquarters to grab their emergency bags and change into clothes that were more appropriate for what they were about to do.

Only Gibbs had been allowed inside of the general store so he and Ziva had set about setting up a perimeter and keeping everyone away from the area since they had no idea what was coming. They knew that only one side could leave the store alive and in the off chance that it was Reynosa who left Ziva would take the shot that would end her life. But twelve hours after the call came and six hours after Gibbs had gone inside alone it was the duo of Gibbs and Gibbs that exited the store. Ducky was already on his way with Palmer sine he had been called two hours prior and Tim called them to say that the body they would be picking up was Paloma Reynosa's. After taping off the door to the store and commandeering a local deputy to make sure no one entered unless they flashed an NCIS badge, Tim and Ziva headed to the hospital to check on their boss and his father. All of the elder Gibbs' fingers had been broken and Gibbs had been shot in the shoulder. It was a through and through but the doctors still wanted to keep him for awhile and he wanted to stay with his father for a day.

A few hours had passed before Ducky called with the news that he and Jimmy were nearing the large town with a hospital closest to Stillwater. Tim and Ziva met them on the highway to lead them to the store. He and Ziva went through the scene in an hour—bagging and tagging everything that needed to be bagged and tagged and taking all of the shots in an hour. They returned to the hospital and Ducky decided to ride back to HQ the following day, after all it was not like there was any rush to do the autopsy of the woman who had wanted to kill Gibbs. He would be with McGee, Gibbs, and the evidence so it would be Ziva and Jimmy with the body in the ME's truck. Not much happened while they waited to leave or on the ride back to DC.

Almost as soon as the car was in park Tim was clambering out and toward the trunk to grab the box of evidence to bring to Abby's lab. He was glad everything was almost over now—they only needed to know where Tony was and find out what had happened to Mike Franks. Once those mysteries were solved everything would be back to normal. There would be no more foreign cold cases involving any of the team, no more sudden trips to Mexico, and no more revenge bent leaders of drug cartels after them. He found himself in front of the lab and walked through the open door. He paused when he noticed the lack of music…that wasn't like Abby at all.

"Abby?" he called, "You here?"

He didn't get a response and so he pulled out his cell phone to call her again. He had called her when they were an hour away from arriving so there was no reason she shouldn't be here already. He walked around the table as his phone rang when he stepped in sight of the pneumatic doors to her office. They were closed but the glass in one of them was broken just enough for someone to step through. He ended the call to her cell and waked over. He could tell that the room itself was a mess. Her desk had been knocked over and both of her computer monitors were smashed on the floor as if they had been thrown at someone. Her chair had been dragged into the middle of the room and attached to it was a note.

_She's not the only one missing McGee. _

Tim sucked in a breath. This couldn't be happening, not now, not with the Gibbs situation, not with everything finally starting to be resolved, not with Tony MIA—Tony! Could Tony be other person that had been kidnapped? Or could someone have snatched Ziva when she had gotten back the day before? But why was this note addressed to him? He wasn't Tony, Gibbs, or Ziva—he didn't _have_ enemies. He was the nice guy who everyone liked. He was brought out of his musings by the sound of his phone ringing. He answered it without thinking.

"McGee."

"Hi, Agent McGee, it's Elisabeth, y'know…Sarah's roommate? I'm a little worried because she's not here even though we had plans to watch a movie tonight and there's a note here that's addressed to you."

Tim paused. The bastard (or bitch his mind vaguely noted) was not only going after Abby, who he still loved mo matter what he told Tony, but his sister? This meant it was personal and had nothing to do with NCIS.

"Listen I'll be right over Elisabeth. Don't touch anything, alright?" he said pulling a Gibbs and hanging up before the other party could respond.

He quickly headed up to the bull pen to grab his car keys from his desk and then raced down to the parking lot. He made the sixty minute drive to Sarah's apartment in half the time—though he knew that if he'd told Ziva or Gibbs it would have been less than even that. He raced up to the fifth floor where her apartment was and knocked on the door.

"Elisabeth, its Tim, Sarah's brother." he called as his fist pounded on the wood.

The scared young woman opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Tim's face.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I don't know." Tim responded, truthfully, "But I'm going to find out. You're safe I have no doubt about that."

He picked up the note with gloves that he had stashed in his pocket before leaving NCIS.

_I have your sister AND the woman you're closest too. _

_Now what are you going to do, Agent McGee?_

"Listen Elisabeth, in a couple of hours some agents from NCIS are going to be here to take fingerprints. You can trust them. Make sure that one of the agents is Special Agent Ziva David. If she's not with them say that you have to speak to her and have them call her. Tell her this: emergency emergency spot. It's a code that only she and one other person besides me will understand. If one of the agents is Senior Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs just tell him that you need to speak to Ziva. If he asks just tell him I said plausible deniability. Can you do that?" Tim asked.

"Yes. Ziva David. Emergency emergency spot." Elisabeth repeated.

"I have to go now. Don't touch anything you don't have to touch."

With that Tim raced back down the stairs to his car and sent a text to Ziva.

Back at NCIS headquarters Ziva David was awaiting…something to do. Since he wasn't in the bullpen she assumed that Tim was down in the lab with Abby helping her and Gibbs was nowhere to be found. So Ziva sat behind her desk wondering if she should just head home since it was nearly 6 and she hadn't even needed to come in. She had just stood up and was facing the elevator when a familiar head poked out of it and beckoned her over. She walked in and once the elevator started moving she reached out and hit the emergency stop switch.

"Where have you been?" she hissed.

"Vance sent me on a mission that couldn't wait." Tony said reaching a hand out to place on her arm. "I pleaded with him to let me leave after your ceremony but he wouldn't listen. Said that he needed someone on it right then and I was the only person for the job."

"You have missed a lot more than my ceremony." She replied, "What did he send you to do?"

"I had to follow that _federale_. The one who Gibbs and Vance were setting up. But I do have some good news for Gibbs. Franks is alive. He…ah…_took over_….my tail. What did I miss?"

"You missed the head of the Reynosa Cartel trapping Jackson in his store. He _took over _your tail?"

"Is he alright? What about the Boss? Do we have her in custody? He plans on killing the _federale_."

"She tortured Gibbs and Jackson by breaking all of Jackson's fingers…but other than that he is fine. Gibbs was shot once in the shoulder but he is fine. We have her…in autopsy. Jimmy and I brought her back yesterday. How can he shoot? He is missing his trigger finger."

"Franks claims he can shoot with his thumb." Tony said turning Ziva to face him. "I really am sorry about missing your ceremony Zi. You have to know that I wished I was here watching you take that oath and not tailing Alejandro…even if I did get to wear a Hawaiian shirt for that assignment."

"I understand, Tony. I was more worried than angry at you as it was. I knew that something was up when Vance asked you to come into his office." She said as her phone began ringing.

She pulled the device out of her pocket to find a text message from Tim.

"This is very bad. We have to tell Gibbs." she said looking up at Tony with wide eyes filled with worry.

"What does the message say?" Tony asked.

Ziva turned the screen of the phone to face him. He already had a sinking feeling in his gut and it only increased after reading the text.

"Not again so soon." He said re-reading the message.

_To: Ziva David_

_From: Tim McGee_

_5/27/10 17:54:10_

_Going off grid. Abby and Sarah kidnapped. Rule 40._


	2. Chapter 2

The taxi finally pulled up in front of the old abandoned warehouses just outside of Silver Spring, Maryland. Tim opened the door after handing the driver the correct amount of cash with a generous tip. The driver looked at him like he was crazy but Tim knew exactly what he was doing. There were four of these sites set up across Virginia and Maryland. He started walking in one direction and once he knew he was out of sight of the cab he turned and started heading for the warehouses.

"Number 14." He muttered to himself sliding through a hidden door in the fence.

Even though he knew no one was there he still cautiously looked around before typing in the seven digit pass code to unlock the door. The light on the electronic keypad turned green and he opened the door into the dark space. He waited as his eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light before reaching for the heavy metal maglite flashlight on a table next to the door. His fingers slowly found the button and pressed it down to turn the light on. Inside the small space were two safes partially filled with cash. He'd put a lot of the money here by splitting his royalty check in two. He'd take half the cash and put it in one of their emergency spots and the other half would go into his bank account or his now defunct hedge fund. Also inside were four boxes. One box was for Ziva, one for Tony, one for Tim, and the last box was filled with cell phones. He opened his box and changed into the clothes that were stored there—they were a little loose but it just helped more to hide his identity. He also grabbed a ball cap from Tony's box—he'd replace it later…hopefully.

He went over and pulled out one of the prepaid cell phones in the box and activated it. He went to the contacts and stored one number in it—Gibbs' number. He grabbed a bag that was hung in a hook and put some cash, the never used laptop from his box, and a few other necessities inside of it. He turned the flashlight off and slipped out of the unit before locking it behind him. He walked to a nearby motel with free wireless to rent a room for a week.

* * *

"We have to find Gibbs and tell him." Ziva said as she and Tony exited the elevator.

"Where is he?" Tony asked, looking around the bullpen and not spotting their fearless leader.

"I do not know. Call autopsy and see if he is there, I will call the director's office." She said rushing to her desk and grabbing the phone.

She slammed her finger down on the buttons to dial to Vance's office. While the phone rang she looked to Tony who shook his head.

"No answer in Autopsy. Ducky probably went home and I doubt that Jimmy is here." He whispered as Vance's secretary picked up.

_"Director Vance's office."_

"This is Agent David. I need to speak with the Director and Agent Gibbs if he is up there."

_"Director Vance and Special Agent Gibbs are in a meeting at the moment but when they are done I will let them know that you wanted to speak with them, Agent David."_

"This is a life or death situation!" Ziva screamed into the receiver as Vance's secretary hung up.

"Is Gibbs up there?" Tony asked careful to stay far away from the upset Israeli.

"Yes, he is in a meeting with Vance." She hung the phone up. "Let's go." She then said leaving her desk and heading to the stairs.

"What are we doing?" Tony asked running to catch up to Ziva as she bounded up the stairs two at a time.

"We are going to tell Gibbs and Vance what has happened. Gibbs will not care that we are interrupting a meeting and this is more important than anything. McGee is in trouble and he needs our help."

It was at this point that she stormed into Vance's outer office. She barged right up to the secretary's desk and glared at her with cold eyes.

"I already told you Agent David, Director Vance and Special Agent Gibbs are in a meeting with Ms. Hart. They do not want to be disturbed."

"I am going in there and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I have something that is very important to tell Gibbs and a silly little secretary like you is not going to stop me." She said scanning the secretary's desk. She grabbed something and held it up for the secretary to see. "If you try and stop me I will be forced to kill you with this. Now I am going in there and you are going to sit right here and watch me."

The secretary looked at Tony for a moment to see if Ziva was bluffing. He shook his head and mouthed "eighteen" to the poor woman. She nodded her head to Ziva who stalked over to the door and pulled it open.

It wasn't easy to surprise Leroy Jethro Gibbs but the sight in the door did. Standing there was one Ziva David who was clenching a shiny silver paperclip in her fist. Behind her was a ridiculously dressed Tony DiNozzo who looked both frightened and worried which was never a good combination.

"Agent David, this is a private meeting." Leon Vance standing up from behind his desk.

"That is all well and good Director Vance but I have important news for Gibbs." she said opening her cell phone back up to show him the text message.

"What is so important that you had to interrupt our meeting?" Vance asked.

"Abby and Special Agent McGee's sister, Sarah have both been kidnapped." Ziva said taking her phone back from a silent Gibbs. "He believes it to be an attack upon himself and not the agency. That will not work, Gibbs."

The agent was pulling his cell phone out of his pocket in an effort to call McGee and find out what was going on.

"What do you mean it won't work?" he growled upset that one of his people was missing along with the relative of another and there was currently nothing he could do to help.

"By now McGee has turned off if not ditched his cell phone. He will have changed his clothes and will not be using any credit cards only cash."

"And how do you know this, Agent David?"

"I taught him how to go off grid. He should be calling either Gibbs or myself soon to let us know any pertinent information."

Right at that moment Gibbs' phone started ringing. The number was blocked but Gibbs knew in his gut that it was Tim.

"Gibbs."

_"Boss."_

"Where are you McGee?"

_"Can't tell you that, Boss. I trust you, Ziva, Ducky and the Director but right now that's it. Abby was taken from her lab that means that whoever took her had inside help. You and Ziva need to process the scenes. I'll send you a text with my sister's address so you can go there too. I gotta go, Boss, but I'll call when I know more. If you guys get any information let me know okay?"_

"Will do, McGee. Stay safe."

Gibbs hung up the phone.

"McGee is safe but he won't tell me where he is. DiNozzo, David head down to the lab and process the crime scene. I'm heading over to the other crime scene." Gibbs said starting to leave the office.

"Hold on just a minute there Gibbs. Agent David, do you have any idea where Agent McGee could have gotten a cell phone with a blocked number like that?"

"I know of four places he could have easily headed to the moment he discovered what had happened."

"Where is he, Ziva?" Gibbs asked not in the mood for word games.

"I can honestly say that I do not know. I said I know of four places he could have gone. I do not know which one he went to but I assume it will be either number one or number two." She said turning to look at Tony.

"Two probably. I don't think one will have had everything he needed and he most likely doesn't need what's in three and he shouldn't need what is in four." Tony responded.

"What are you two talking about?" Gibbs asked.

"Gibbs, Director Vance. Just remember that for this to work we cannot tell you everything. We have places around Maryland and Virginia that only the three of us can access. Each one has certain items in it for certain situations. One and two have simple items in them. Cash, cell phones, laptops, changes of clothes those sorts of things. Three has a motorcycle, a car, and a small arsenal of weaponry along with the things that are in one and two. Four is best described as the "I need to get out of the country" edition of these places. There may be documents there." She said trailing off. "These were spots made following the attempt to frame me for the death of two FBI agents and a man wanted by Mossad. I had nowhere to go after I escaped from the Israeli Embassy. Tony, Tim, and I talked after and decided that having spots like these could be very useful in such future situations."

Vance and Gibbs stood there shocked for a moment before Gibbs gestured to Tony and Ziva who headed down to the truck to get the supplies they would need.

"Director Vance, do you realize what you agent just admitted? They have secret spots set up all over two states to hide potential fugitives? Do you really plan to let this slide?" Allison Hart asked, voicing her opinion for the first time.

"I didn't hear that, did you Agent Gibbs?" Vance asked. "All I heard was that there may be places where they can go to get something they need."

"Director Vance, Ms. David admitted to having a small arsenal of weapons. You realize that this is illegal?"

"Ms. Hart, our meeting is over for now. This agency has its mind on finding its Forensic Specialist, one of our brightest agents and his sister safe and sound. Once this crisis is over than we will resume this meeting."

"Director Vance!"

"Ms. Hart! You may leave my office under your own power or you can be escorted out by two armed guards. You have been dismissed." Vance said.

She left without Vance having to call security up. Vance just looked at Gibbs as if wondering why he was still standing there.

"You do realize that Ziva's idea of a small arsenal of weapons could probably help the South rise again?" He said before stalking out and heading straight down to the garage to take the van to the address on his phone.

* * *

It was not easy to frighten Abigail Sciuto … after all, she slept in a coffin! But right now she was scared out of her mind. She had been sitting in her chair in her labs office flipping through some CD's when she heard someone enter the lab. Thinking it was Tim she hopped up and bounded through the automatic doors. Only to find a dark-haired man standing there…holding a gun. She stepped back into her office as he stepped towards her and before he could get close she managed to lock the doors. That didn't deter him though as he broke through the glass on one side and came at her. She threw both of her computer monitors at him but they didn't do any damage. She was behind her desks and the just moved them out of the way and dragged her chair into the middle of the floor. She started to feel lightheaded and noticed that there was a cloth with chloroform on it over her mouth and nose. She tried not to breathe in but it was too late and a few moments later she was down for the count. When she woke up later she was in the back of a SUV and there was someone next to her.

"Are you okay?" she whispered hoping that the other person was awake.

"I'm fine." The person whispered with a familiar voice. It took Abby a split second to realize who it was.

"Sarah?" she whispered, "It's Abby from—"

"NCIS. I remember you. You were the one who proved I had been drugged. I never got to thank you for that."

"It was no problem. I knew that no sister of Timmy could kill someone. Especially after seeing you. You both have the same softness to your eyes."

"Thanks. Listen, do you know what's going on?"

"No. I don't. But you can't be scared because Tim or Gibbs will save us. I know they will."

Sarah curled up into Abby's side and Abby put an arm around her. Abby knew she had to be strong for Sarah—even if it meant pretending she wasn't scared when she was. But she knew that once Tim knew that she and his sister had been taken he would work double time on the case until he found them.

* * *

Tim felt a little better after having spoken to Gibbs. He was currently sitting on a bus that would stop near his apartment. He knew that there was a chance he was being watched but he needed to see if any clue as to Abby and Sarah's whereabouts had been left there. When the bus reach the appropriate stop he clambered off the crowded bus and stepped into the late evening's fresh air. He walked slowly to his apartment keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.

He made it unharmed to his door where he found a third note. _Hasn't this person ever heard of email?_ He thought while pulling the note off his door.

_Still no ideas on who I am, how to find me, or how I got into NCIS?_

_Silly federal agent. _

Tim growled in response to the note and decided to send a text to Gibbs to let him know to come and pick it up. He headed back out to the front of the building before an idea hit him. The person knew him obviously…so he'd get security footage for the past few weeks from places he frequented and hope to find someone that seemed to be following him.

* * *

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not having a good week. First, he'd had to run off to Mexico to make sure that Mike was alright only to find him missing. Second he'd been sent back to the US, with no real knowledge of what they wanted him to do. And during the one bright spot in those days, the celebration of Ziva, a woman who just like Abby had become his daughter, becoming an American citizen he had received a call that Paloma Reynosa had taken his father hostage in his general store. Then he'd been forced to watch as she broke his father's fingers. He'd finally gotten his revenge though by shooting her. He'd returned to NCIS only to be dragged into a meeting with the Director and M. Allison Hart about what would happen with the Reynosa situation since it couldn't be ignored. Needless to say halfway through that meeting things had taken a turn for the worse when Ziva David had appeared in the doorway and informed him that not only had Abby and Tim's sister Sarah snatched but that Tim was now invoking Rule 40 just mere days after he had.

And that was how he found himself in his car on his way to Sarah's apartment to dust for fingerprints and bag and tag anything he deemed important. It was also how he found himself dialing one of his few friends at 7PM on a night when he had his daughter.

_"Fornell."_

"It's Gibbs."

_"What do you need Jethro?"_

"Abby and McGee's sister Sarah have been kidnapped. I'm gonna need a lab tech to go over our evidence and any information you might get about sightings of the girls. I'll have their pictures sent to you in the morning."

_"No problem, Jethro. That McGee's a good agent. If it weren't for the fact that I know he'd never leave NCIS I'd have tried to get him to join the FBI a while ago."_

"Good to know, Tobias. I gotta go but get that tech in your lab soon. We're gonna need results fast."

Gibbs hung up and pulled into a parking spot. He headed up to the fifth floor and knocked on the appropriate door. A young woman with shoulder length reddish-brown hair and blue eyes opened it. He flashed his badge and ID.

"NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"Please come in. Sarah's brother said that either you or Agent David would come. He also told me to tell whoever came that if she wasn't with them I had to have them call her to tell her something. And that if you were with them I was to say plausible deniability to you by way of explanation." She said in a jumble.

"I'll do what I need to do and then I'll call Agent David for you."Gibbs said.

There wasn't much for him to do. There were a few things he bagged and tagged and dusted for finger prints over the whole apartment. Just as he was finishing up Ziva called.

_"Gibbs, what are we doing with all of the evidence?"_

"Send it to the FBI. I called in a favor with Fornell. Sarah's roommate has something she needs to day to you."

_"Me?"_

"A message from Tim."

He handed the phone to the young woman.

"Agent Ziva David?" she asked cautiously.

_"Yes?_"

"My name is Elisabeth Bennington and Agent McGee told me to tell you emergency emergency spot."

On the other side of the call Ziva let out the breath she had been holding. Tim had gone to the warehouses in Silver Spring then. This meant he wasn't planning on or didn't have enough information to do anything drastic.

_"Ziver? You there?"_

"Yes, Gibbs. Tim is safe and currently has no plans on doing anything but try and found out the mystery kidnappers identity."

_"You got all that from two words. Get that evidence to the FBI and then you and DiNozzo go home. Get some sleep and be in by oh-five hundred tomorrow and be ready to work and not rest until we've got Abby, Sarah, and Tim back safe."_

"Yes Gibbs. Oh-five hundred."

Ziva hung up the phone.

"So what are we doing with the evidence?" Tony asked

"We need to take it to the FBI lab. Then we are to go home and sleep and be in at oh-five hundred tomorrow morning."

"Then lets load up my car and I'll take you home."

"No. You live closer than I do. I will stay at your apartment tonight. I have a bag of spare clothes in my trunk. I will grab that and meet you at your car."

Tony nodded and grabbed the box of evidence while Ziva headed to the garage to get her bag. Tony knew it would be a long night for him. Not just because Ziva was sleeping over but because he was worried about Tim.


	3. Chapter 3

So sorry for the long wait! I just haven't been able to get past my writers block. Here's chpater 3. Hopefully I can have 4 up on Monday afternoon

* * *

Chapter 3

Back in his motel room Tim was looking through security footage from the last three weeks from his favorite coffee shop (which he had changed since the whole Landon incident), his dry cleaners, the gas station close to the Navy Yard and NCIS HQ. The first three had only required a flash of his badge to get copies of. But since he wasn't sure who was the kidnappers inside helper at NCIS he'd had the director email him a copy of the gate footage. He'd noticed that a tall dark haired male had been haunting his steps for the past few weeks. He took a screen capture and emailed it to Ziva…they could run facial recognition and find out who he was.

He would run the facial himself but it was one of the few programs that needed access to an inter-agency mainframe. Next he pulled up the footage from the gate. He'd noticed a Black Chevy SUV at the gas station the week prior and he'd actually seen the dark-haired man getting into the car. As he watched the footage from the gate he watched as the SUV entered the gates the day Abby and Sarah had been kidnapped. He continued watching the footage and watched as Abby's hearse entered the Yard at 5 and the SUV left at 5:15. He did get a good shot of the license plate and decided to call Gibbs to tell him to run the facial and give him the license plate number.

_"Gibbs."_

"Boss. I have something for you."

_"What is it Tim?"_

"Someone was following me. I emailed Ziva a picture I got from some security footage. I also got the license plate number of the SUV that I think was the kidnapper's vehicle."

_"What is it?"_

"Tango Romeo Bravo Zero One Niner. Dark colored Chevy Suburban."

_"All right, Tim. I'll give you a call once he have some information."_

"Thanks Boss."

_"Stay safe, McGee."_

"Will do Boss." He said hanging up.

Gibbs turned to Ziva.

"Get Keating up here. Have him run facial recognition on the picture McGee sent you. DiNozzo, you track down a dark Chevy Suburban. License plate tango romeo bravo zero one niner." He said reading the number off the paper he had written it down on.

"On it Boss!" Tony exclaimed.

Gibbs headed to the elevator. It was going to be a long day and they'd need a lot of coffee. He headed to his favorite shop and on the walk there called Fornell and told him about what McGee had found. Fornell agreed to let Gibbs know the moment he had any information for Gibbs. When he returned he was pleased to find that both Ziva (by way of Keating) had had success.

"The man who was following McGee is Maximillian Powell. He was arrested for assault and battery. He was involved in a bar fight and nearly killed a man. Yet, somehow he was never charged." She said pulling up a picture of the dark haired man on the plasma.

Gibbs stared at the picture McGee captured off of the security footage. _Why is this man after McGee?_ He wondered. _Is he another Landon? _But as far as Gibbs could remember McGregor didn't have a sister in either _Deep Six _or _Rock Hollow_. So how would Powell have known about Sarah?

"Boss! I found the SUV and the owner. A black Chevy Suburban with the license plate TRB-019 belongs to a woman named Leah Greene. And I've already found her boss. She was Powell's inside person. She's an intel analyst who concentrates on Japan and South Korea."

Tony pulled up a picture of the woman. She was pale skinned with brown hair and brown eyes. She was exactly the type of person that no one would notice or even if they did they'd barely remember her.

"Call security and have her escorted down to interrogation. We're gonna find out exactly what the hell this she was thinking when she agreed to help this guy." Gibbs snarled.

Thirty minutes later Gibbs found himself pacing behind a very nervous Leah Greene. He couldn't see them but he knew that DiNozzo, Ziva, and Vance were all behind the glass watching the interrogation.

"Do you know why you're here, Agent Greene?" he asked coming around to sit in front of her.

"N-no." she squeaked.

" You own a black Chevy SUV, is that correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

Gibbs watched her hand flex as if she wanted to raise it so that she could continue biting at the nails that barely existed.

"And according to Agent Hanover you rarely if ever work on Sundays. And when you do work on Sunday's you stay until 3PM at the latest. Yet not only did you work this past Sunday but you stayed until after 5PM."

"I'm working on a very important project." She replied not meeting Gibbs' eyes.

"What project?" he asked.

"It has to do with…troop movements…North Korean troop movements!" she said after a moment's pause.

Tony smirked behind the glass as he watched the interrogation.

"Rule number seven."He said. Vance gave him a look.

"Always be specific when you lie." Ziva clarified.

They could hear him talking to her and asking question after question trying to get her to break. Nothing happened until Gibbs slid across a picture of Powell and told her that if they didn't find him and Abby and/or Sarah died she'd be the one they sent to jail.

"Alright! Alright!" she exclaimed, "I got a call a few weeks ago from this guy who says he's knows my secret and that he'll tell my husband unless I help him. I didn't want to do anything but I can't let my husband find out."

"Find out what?" Gibbs growled.

She hesitated.

"What are you hiding?" he yelled slamming his hand down on the table.

"Kara! Kara Welford. She-She's my girlfriend." Leah muttered. "I love my husband but I met Kara and something just clicked between us. I've been hiding my affair from him for nearly a year. I don't know how this guy found out but he did."

"What did he want you to do?"

"He needed me to find out everything I could about Agent McGee. Who he cared for, if he had any siblings, that kind of information. Once I got him that information I had to find out where Agent McGee's sister lived and when the best time would be to take Miss Sciuto. I knew that I had to wait until your whole team was out of the building and the entire building heard about how you had to go and rescue your father. I happened to be walking by when I heard Agent David tell the Director that you, Doctor Mallard, and Agent McGee would be returning on Sunday."

"Then what?"

"I told him and he made me smuggle him onto the Yard. Once Miss Sciuto arrived I helped him into the building. I don't know what happened after that I swear. He took my keys and I can only assume he went to Agent McGee's sister's apartment."

Gibbs glared at her.

"I swear! I swear! I don't know where he was going to take them or where he is or why he's doing this!" she exclaimed. "Wait…he did mumble something once…I don't think he'd realized I'd overheard him. It was something about getting back at the little shit who'd figured out his brother's plan. I had disregarded it since it didn't make any sense."

Gibbs spared her a look before leaving the room. Tony and Ziva met him out in the hall.

"Tony look—" he started

"Look into recent cases where McGee supplied most of the information. On it, Boss!" Tony interrupted heading for the elevator.

"Ziver—"

"Coffee and lunch. Anything else, Gibbs?" she asked.

Gibbs shook his head and as she headed off he caught Vance's questioning gaze.

"It's good to be the boss*." he said paraphrasing one of his favorite movie lines.

Gibbs headed back upstairs to see if any new information had been found. Tony hadn't found anything yet in their most recent cases so Gibbs told him to check the last six months of case files for the name Powell or anyone with a brother with the last name of Powell. It was just as Ziva was walking into the bull pen that Tony found the related case.

"Boss, I found the case." he said calling out to his superior.

Gibbs turned to Tony with the "well…go ahead" look on his face.

"Are you waiting for an invitation?" he asked

"Lieutenant Brad Sayers. He was killed by his commanding officer Captain James Powell in January."

"I remember that case. It was the one with the jet packs!" Ziva said.

"Rocket Belts…yes…the Thom E. Gemcity production." Tony murmured, "And former Captain Powell has a brother… one Maximillian Powell."

Tony pulled the picture they had of him up on the plasma.

"Now we know why he went after McGee." said Ziva as Gibbs' phone started to ring. "He obviously didn't like having his brother get caught…red-fingered—"

"Handed…red handed." Tony supplied as Gibbs answered his phone.

"Gibbs."

_"Where is McGee?"_

"Mr. Powell, I assume." Gibbs said pressing the speaker button.

_"Where is McGee?"_

"Tim isn't here."

_"Then you tell him…only one of the girls can be saved. I'll call soon."_

The only sound after that was the dial tone which sounded strangely ominous after hearing what they had just heard. Gibbs looked up from the phone to see both Vance and Fornell standing behind Tony and Ziva.

"Have you come to stare or do you actually have something for me, Tobias?" Gibbs asked.

"I have something for you Jethro. The SUV you told me about? It was caught on tape at a toll heading into Virginia. It isn't much but it is something."

Gibbs looked a Fornell for a moment longer before springing into action.

"Ziver get the number of Greene's toll pass and find out if it went through any other tolls. Tony, find out how Powell knew it was McGee who had the most involvement in his brothers arrest. And will someone get Keating back up here? I want this bastard's next call traced!" he exclaimed.

* * *

Abby had lost track of the amount of time they had been in the back of the SUV when it suddenly stopped. The door opened and she was blinded by the bright light of what she would later realize was a flashlight. She and Sarah were roughly pulled from the SUV and strapped down to a couple of chairs.

"Abby? What's going on? What's going to happen?" Sarah whispered.

"I don't know, Sarah. But I know that Tim and Gibbs will rescue us. They'll figure everything out." She replied softly.

Abby didn't add the qualifier to that statement. _They have to figure it out_ she said to herself. _They have to._

* * *

Tim was just starting to fall asleep when his cell phone rang. He sprang up off the bed and grabbed the phone off the table.

"What is it, Boss?" he asked.

_"The guy who was following you. His name is Maximillian Powell. He's the brother of the man we arrested for the murder of-"_

"Lieutenant Sayers."Tim interrupted, "It was the case with the rocket belts. I remember."

_"He's apparently upset that you got his little brother arrested. He wants to make your life hell."_

"What else do we know, Boss?" Tim asked.

_ "Not much to be honest. Tony and Ziva are trying to find out information and I've got Keating up here for when the bastard calls back—"_

"He called! What did he say? Did he say why he took Abs and Sarah? Did he say where he took them? Or how I can get them?"

_"Tim, calm down!"_

"How can I calm down? He's got my sister! My sister, Boss! And he…he's…he's got _Abby_, Boss. He's got the two of the most important women in my life."

_"I know, Tim, I know. He didn't say much. Only two important things. That he'll call back soon. And that…"_

"And what, Boss?"

_"You can only save one of them."_

Tim stood frozen with the phone next to his ear. The buzzing noise in his ear was so loud he could barely hear Gibbs telling him that they would rescue both girls. He ended the call and backed up to sit on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. How could he choose? How could he choose between his sister, his flesh and blood, and the woman he still loved? How could he choose one to live and sacrifice the other to a maniac?


End file.
